We are renting an apartment and I have a basic question. Is it o.k. with customs to bring some staples with us into the country. Things like Powder gatorade, spices, peanut butter and jelly?

Okay. Lots of visitors do the same thing. I would suggest also bringing ziploc bag to store snacks or sweets otherwise they get stale very fast or attract ants.

Of course you can also purchase most of the stuff here at about the same price as home. Zip loc are also available here...US Brands...Now you will have room in your luggage for the important stuff....NY Times and Bagels!

Yeh, the important stuff, like Micheal sez. ;)
That is if your from the NY area, Michael appreciates "real" bagels and a Sunday NY Times.(who dosen't).
Kidding aside, Bonaire's stores do have many things you find in the states. You wouldn't have to "slepf" peanut butter and the like with you. It use to be when the "package ships" came in things where available(like fresh milk prod. and yogurt) but everything is pretty much available in the stores now and at more or less reasonable prices. They even have an "in-house" bakery in Cultimare. But if you absoultly have to have a certain brand of something, then maybe you should bring it.

I found the prices somewhat more expensive than home. Next time I come, in addition to the brand of tea I like and some cup-a-soup, I plan to bring tinned tuna (the kind there is awful).

We have regular American brand tuna like "Chicken of the Sea" as well as economy brands here. The only problem I've had was accidentally buying the packed in oil version by mistake.

I for a number of years brought my own meats with me. Not so much because of price, but I think the variety is better in the States, and availabilty. Now I'm just too lazy to lug another item. I make due with what is available

We used to haul along lots of snack stuff, "must have" foods, liquor etc. to various remote dive destinations. Bonaire no longer fits in that category, and we don't bring much of anything, even tho we mostly cook in at our rental house. You will find most everything you need, and can make do with what is available on island. And, by the way, I've been meaning to post for some time, that the cheese with cumin in it (I've never found it anywhere except Bonaire and Curacao) is fabulous! You all must try it - we usually bring several packages home and make it last as long as possible.

You can order gouda cheese with cumin from California from Winchester Cheese. Go to the following website if interested:
http://www.winchestercheese.com/order.html

Wow - thanks! I'm ordering a sample pack to try their cheeses.

On our 30 visits to Bonaire, we have taken a little less each time--availabilty and selection seems to improve each year! If you drink, take liquor, though--a decent Martini will cost you close to $10.00 U.S.!
We have never had a problem with Customs, though. Just tell them you are on a special diet, and need to bring certain foods. This is actually true for most of us, anyway.

I,too, have long considered a decent Martini to be the essential staple of a special diet.

The only items that we take is tequila (for the tequila snobs in our group) and we will take margarita mix to hold them over until we can find in the stores. Lucky for us the last time Jake & Linda kindly gave us a quart size container of the mix - it was in a container just like milk! Once we figured it out we bought when we saw it in case it ran out!